This database consolidates and tracks litigation concerning the effect of the pandemic on election law. The purpose of this tool is to provide an interactive list of relevant cases that can be searched by issue, court, status, and jurisdiction.
Case Details
People Not Politicians Oregon v. Clarno
Closed
People Not Politicians Oregon v. Clarno, No. 6:20-cv-01053 (D. Or.), 2020 WL 3960440 |
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| Case Summary | In light of COVID-19 issues, Petitioner attempted to meet the signature requirements using online and mail, but was not able to meet the threshold required to add petitions to the November ballot. Petitioner requests that the Secretary of State adjust both the deadline (to mid-August) and threshold to meet COVID-19 related challenges. | |
| Filed | 06/30/2020 | |
| State | Oregon | |
| Type of Court | Federal | |
| Circuit | Ninth Circuit | |
| Status | Closed () | |
| Last Updated | 11/19/2020 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Petition Signature Requirement (Threshold Number, Deadline/Time to Collect) | |
| Complaint(s) | 06/30/2020: Complaint filed. | |
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 07/13/2020: Order/Ruling, Emergency Relief Granted - court ruled that COVID19 created unreasonable barriers to the First Amendment right to petition; directed SOS to either accept the current number of signatures or allow additional time. | |
People Not Politicians Oregon v. Clarno, No. 20-35630 (9th Cir.) |
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| Case Summary | In light of COVID-19 issues, Petitioner attempted to meet petition signature requirements using online and mail signatures, but was not able to meet the threshold required to add petitions to the November ballot. Petitioner requests that the Secretary of State adjust both the deadline (to mid-August) and threshold to meet COVID-19 related challenges. | |
| Filed | 07/15/2020 | |
| State | Oregon | |
| Type of Court | Federal | |
| Circuit | Ninth Circuit | |
| Status | Closed () | |
| Last Updated | 11/19/2020 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Petition Signature Requirement (Threshold Number, Deadline/Time to Collect) | |
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 07/23/2020: Order/Ruling, Motion to stay district court ruling pending appeal is denied | |
| 09/01/2020: Order/Ruling, The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit remanded this case to the district court to allow the parties to develop the record and brief the district court on whether this controversy is now moor or whether it is instead “capable of repetition, yet evading review.” On July 10 and 13, 2020, the district court issued a Preliminary Injunction enjoining Oregon’s Signature and Deadline Requirements for placing an Initiative on the ballot, and requiring the state to either (1) allow plaintiff’s Initiative on the ballot with the signatures gathered as of the day of the injunction, or (2) reduce the signature threshold to 58,789 signatures and extend the deadline to gather signatures until August 17, 2020. On August 11, 2020, the Supreme Court stayed the district court’s preliminary injunction pending disposition of this appeal “and disposition of the petition for a writ of certiorari, if such writ is timely sought.” Clarno v. People Not Politicians, No. 20A21, 2020 (U.S. Aug. 11, 2020). The Ninth Circuit reasoned that the practical effect of the Supreme Court’s stay is that even if Ninth Circuit panel affirmed the district court’s injunction, the Supreme Court is not likely to lift the stay until after the September 3, 2020 deadline to place the Initiative on the November 2020 ballot, likely rendering this action moot as to this election cycle. The Ninth Circuit remanded to the District Court to determine whether or not the case is moot. | ||
People Not Politicians Oregon v. Clarno, No. 20A21 (S. Ct.) |
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| Case Summary | In light of COVID-19 issues, Petitioner attempted to meet petition signature requirements using online and mail signatures, but was not able to meet the threshold required to add petitions to the November ballot. Petitioner requests that the Secretary of State adjust both the deadline (to mid-August) and threshold to meet COVID-19 related challenges. After the Ninth Circuit denied a motion to stay the district court's preliminary injunction, defendant filed an emergency application for a stay with the Supreme Court. | |
| Filed | 07/30/2020 | |
| State | Oregon | |
| Type of Court | Federal | |
| Circuit | US Supreme Court | |
| Status | Closed () | |
| Last Updated | 09/07/2020 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Petition Signature Requirement (Threshold Number, Deadline/Time to Collect) | |
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 08/11/2020: Order/Ruling, The application for a stay of the district court's preliminary injunctions presented to the Supreme Court is granted. | |
